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London Drinker Beer & Cider Festival 2003
Well folks it's the time of year to come and enjoy around fifty real ales, numerous imported beers and ciders and perries, for CAMRA's London Drinker Beer & Cider Festival is taking place in March.
The beers etc
Perhaps this festival can probably be described as a fruity beer and birthday bash. To start with, Pitfield, North London's very own brewery is celebrating 21 years of brewing in 2003. The Festival will be selling their very special birthday beer on draught along with their organic Eco Warrior and an exclusively extra dried hopped version of Hoxton Best Bitter, which will be the Festival's special beer.
Charles Wells' Banana Bread Beer will also be available. It is a dark golden beer with banana notes on the aroma and on the palate. But not as sweet as you would expect from the name, where "bread" refers to the Saxon name for beer: "liquid bread". This was the 2002 Best Beer of the Festival, so see if you agree.
One other fruity British beer will be Fuller's Honey Dew with Cranberries. This beer usually appears in a bottled form that is not bottled conditioned but at this year's Festival it will be in a real ale form on draught. For those of you who find the usual Honey Dew a little sweet, give this a try. The sharpness of the cranberries balances the sweetness beautifully.
And of course, more fruity beers can be found on the Imported Beer Bar in the side hall. Traditionally from Belgium, these include Kriek (made with cherries) and Framboise (raspberries). But these are not the only unusual flavours on sale; try the smoked beer from Bavaria.
But the oldest form of fruity alcoholic drinks can be found on the cider and perry bar (like cider but made from pears). Cider has been drunk in Britain long before the Romans and the traditional form is very difficult to find in London. So if you haven't tried it, why not give it a go this year but beware many ciders are around 8% ABV (alcohol by volume) so a half may be a good start for the uninitiated!
Other delights
As usual the Festival food is made by the local branch volunteers. As well as the usual O'Hagan's sausages, onion bhajis and enormous cheese baps there are two daily specials one of which is vegetarian. The chefs promise at least one spicy dish this year.
Although the side hall is seated, in the evenings the balcony is opened to provide additional seating and for people to watch the world go by.
But if you want to have a bit of active fun, there is the Tombola where "Every 1's a winner" or have a go at the Shut the Box. A traditional game played by sailors and win a tee shirt.
On Wednesday evening there is the usual breweriana auction. If you can't get along for then, the Products stand has a range of brewery goods from jugs to tee shirts as well as the Festival commemorative tee shirt and books on beer and breweries including the 2003 Good Beer Guide and lots of special offers.
But if jazz is more your scene, then on Friday night Jazzy Trousers are back by special request.
The Festival is open 19th-21st March; full details of the opening times can be found on the advert at the back of the this edition of Full Pint.
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 19.
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